Second breakfast

Heading past the threshold I stride down the hall, "gods is that the date?" I say in surprise looking at the calendar on the wall, it was the tenth of the Augusta moon. "I doubt they put a calendar there for decorative purposes" Quinara jokes softly wanting not to be heard by anyone but me, "it's my birthday in three days" I admit, in all the chaos as of late I had completely neglected the thought of my birthday, I knew it was the end of the summer months so it wasn't a complete surprise seeing it was only three days away. "Well isn't that convenient, if I didn't know better I would think you're angling for something special on that day" Quinara purrs her warm breath cascading over my ear, my pants were suddenly far tighter than they were previously. "Gods you can't keep doing this to me" I whisper back, Quinara chuckles softly "actually I can, you're mine now remember runt" she whispers pinching my side.

Downstairs there are the patrons from last night minus the fiddle player in the main hall eating breakfast, they regard us coolly as we enter. My second breakfast of the day is far less tasty but far more substantial as we each get a bowl of oatmeal from the large pot of the stuff that had been made. The oatmeal had a watery consistency but thankfully tasted inoffensive as it was just bland, I did yearn somewhat for better food but I couldn't complain really we were in the middle of nowhere we were lucky to have even this. Looking at Quinara I couldn't help but think she deserved a better honeymoon, the kind with grand halls and lavish feasts. Instead she had a modest tavern and beige slop, though if she had any complaints she certainly didn't show it; she looked content and it filled my heart to know that I had a major role in that.

That contentment is short lived as a group of three men take seat at our table "if it isn't the beast tamer" they say sitting down. The leader looked to be around my age, a gruff looking man with a thick brown beard, his hair slicked back with oil, a small nose that was almost lost in the moustache that adorned his face. The two that flanked him must have been younger still, both looking early twenties or even late teens, to his left was blonde haired man with a modest beard, he was slender in build not too dissimilar from me, to his right was the youngest his face riddled with acne he was wearing a steel cap helmet that covered his hair. "Yeah that's me" I respond coolly not wanting to ruin our cover but also not being friendly with them, "it's impressive work, she seems well trained. I'm Jasper" the leader says outstretching his hand, I reach out and shake it "Huck". His grip is firm and unyielding, "pleasure to meet you, this is Flint" he says clapping the young man on his lefts shoulder "hey" the young man says, "and this is my cousin Lucian", "H-hey" the younger man stammers clearly uncomfortable being sat next to Quinara. "Nice to meet you this is Quinara" I introduce her.

"You have her trained really well, I can't deny I'm impressed. So how'd you do it?" Jasper asks, I respond with some bullshit about discipline and being firm, my stomach tightening at having to speak about my wife as if she was a pet. "Keep her on a tight leash huh. Smart, are you ever worried about her going rogue" he asks, "nope I trust her with my life" I say uttering the first honest statement since I told them my name. "Bullshit she wouldn't save your life no matter how well you trained her and you're an idiot if you don't see that" Flint scoffs, I smirk "well actually she did, last winter I was... Uh ice fishing" I say not wanting to admit my own stupidity "up north when the ice cracked, she dove in and saved my life" the three look at me not fully believing me "ice fishing?" Before I have a chance to fuck up my story even more Quinara saves me "Master didn't believe me that there was an ambush when we were hunting a bounty near Corviet, the ice broke in the fight" Quinara explains. Gods she was so much better than me at this, that was a far better lie and she even made a believable reason for why I would even lie in the first place. "Oh shit really? That's crazy why would you even save him?" Jasper asks Quinara "I would do anything for master" she explains with conviction in her voice that satisfies the trio.

After a uncomfortable amount of questioning about training an orc and more than enough comments that made me want to punch these men in the jaw we move onto why we were all here. "Yeah we're staying for a few days before we set out orc hunting, an orc head will fetch you a pretty penny down in Murkdeep. If you ever find yourself strapped for cash you got a solid payday with you, gods she'll probably even let you take it without a fight" Jasper jokes, clearly them thinking Quinara was a trained beast had let them get comfortable. Far too comfortable in my opinion. I clench my fist trying to hide my rage at the suggestion of decapitating my wife, Quinara squeezes my knee and gives me a look that tells me to let it go. It hurt to let such vile comments go unpunished but I had no option if we wanted to avoid bloodshed. "Yeah we've gotten the finest steel and we're going to get ourselves one of these monsters heads" he continues proudly causing Quinara to stifle a chuckle surprising even me. "What's so funny?" He asks Quinara, "you have been ripped off" Quinara says flatly, as Jasper begins stammering defiantly about how they paid good money Quinara lifts the helmet off of Lucian and with her bare hands crushing it into a crumpled mess. "If it was real steel I wouldn't be able to do that" Quinara says dropping the now useless helmet onto the table with a thud, "your beast just-" "Saved your life" I interrupt Jasper "better she does it here than some orc does it with Lucians head still inside" I explain keeping it short. He knows I'm right but they still leave to return to their table with a huff, clearly humiliated by Quinaras actions.

"Thank the gods they're gone" I say quietly to avoid anyone overhearing, "yeah they were dicks" Quinara agrees, however despite that I keep seeing her look their way. "Just forget about them" I whisper reaching under the table and giving her knee a reassuring pat, her face however was worrying she wasn't looking with anger but she had a more pensive look on her face. Suddenly she looks at me focused, "hey you should go over and apologise. Say I was rude to do that to them like I did and as an apology ask if they want to join you for your birthday" Quinara says, I stifle myself from yelling my response "are you crazy I don't want them there for my birthday". Quinara reaches across the table and puts her hand on my forearm "trust me". Fuck as much as I hated it, I wasn't about to question her whatever she was planning I would do my best to let it come to fruition.

Swallowing my pride I do as Quinara asks and approach their table, "hey I want to apologise for Quinara, I think she was out of line. But she meant well, she just didn't want you to die out there" I say, sure I may be apologising but I refused to fully badmouth her. Jasper sighs "thanks, I appreciate it, we're probably gonna check out early head back to Murkdeep" this was it I could just let them check out and leave, we would never have to deal with them again and by the gods that was tempting. "Hey don't be too hasty, I wanted to make up for the offence. It's my birthday in three days, and I was hoping you'll join me then; gods know I could use company who don't call me master" I say hating every word more than the last. They look amongst themselves "yeah sure, we can let loose before we head back" they say agreeing to stay. I **** a smile "great, looking forward to it" I utter before returning to give Quinara the 'good' news.